


Three Circle Concept

by Everlark_Pearl



Category: Hunger Games (2012), Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Sex Addiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2013-09-17
Packaged: 2017-12-26 20:11:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/969812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Everlark_Pearl/pseuds/Everlark_Pearl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ultimately, our definition of sobriety is our own, but if we define our own program of recovery in isolation, our self-made programs may deceive us, becoming too loose or too restrictive.</p><p>— Three Circles - Defining Sexual Sobriety</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Circle Concept

Every Wednesday evening was exactly the same for Peeta Mellark. The meeting room, white and sterile, played host to the dull, gray folding chairs that were arranged in their familiar circle, waiting for the rest of the group to fill them. The buzzing of the hanging fluorescent lights that were once an annoyance to Peeta had become soothing over time. A weekly reminder of how far he’d come since he first set foot in the arid meeting room in the basement of St. Malachi Center.

It had been nine months since Peeta stumbled into the Wednesday evening Sex Addicts Anonymous meeting broken, weary, and wanting a change. The nameless faces of women and the fleeting moments they spent together at truck stops, dirty motel rooms, and even in the back of his car were beginning to haunt him.

Peeta met Thom at his very first meeting and the two quickly formed a bond that resulted in Thom becoming Peeta's SAA sponsor. With Thom's guidance, Peeta was able to start looking beyond the demons that plagued him and toward his definition of sexual sobriety.

"The meetings take place in this room every Wednesday at seven."

Peeta tore his eyes away from the pamphlet in his hand when he heard Thom's voice. He wasn't used to anyone being there that early, not even Thom. Usually, he was the first one to show up at meetings, sometimes arriving up to forty five minutes before anyone else. The time alone helped him clear his thoughts and ready him to talk about his week.

Thom wasn't alone. Trailing a short distance behind him was a woman that Peeta had never seen at St. Malachi Center before. She was small, just barely reaching Thom's shoulder when she fell into step next to him. Her olive skin matched Thom's, and her dark hair fell in waves over her shoulders as though she had kept it in a braid all day long.

"Feel free to pick any seat you want," Thom said. "You're a little early, so it'll be a bit before everyone else arrives and we get started. Coffee and donuts are to your right."

The woman looked around the room, her gray eyes rapidly darting from one empty chair to the next. “Thanks,” she mumbled, sitting down in a chair directly across from Peeta.

“Hey, Peeta!”

“Thom,” Peeta smiled, grabbing the man’s hand and giving it a firm shake. “How’s life?”

“Can’t complain,” Thom shrugged. “But hey, next week is a big week for you, isn’t it? Six months abstinent, right?”

“That’s right,” Peeta confirmed. “Couldn’t have done it without your help.”

“Hey, man, that’s what I’m here for,” Thom said, slapping Peeta on the shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”

The meeting room went quiet once Thom excused himself. Peeta tried everything he could to keep his focus on the pamphlet he still held in his hands, but the way the woman sitting across from him nervously bounced her legs on the ground was distracting.

“Hi,” Peeta said, finally giving up on trying to read.

The woman’s head snapped up and her eyes locked on Peeta’s. “Hello,” she replied, barely above a whisper.

“First time here, huh?” Peeta asked. The woman nodded as she shifted in her chair uncomfortably. “Don’t be nervous. We’re all here for the same reason.”

XXXX

“We have a new member joining us tonight, and she has decided to share her story with us,” Thom said. He looked over to the woman who now sat completely still in her chair and smiled at her. “You can start whenever you’re ready, and you can share as little or as much as you want. You don’t even have to give us your real name if you don’t want to.”

“Okay,” the woman said, exhaling loudly. As she stood up, her eyes locked on Peeta’s again and he gave her a friendly and encouraging smile. “My name is…” She paused and looked to Peeta. He kept his eyes locked on her and smiled again, waiting for her to proceed. “Katniss.”

“Why are you here, Katniss?” Thom asked gently.

“I need help.” Katniss’s voice broke, and Peeta noticed the tears that gathered in the corners of her eyes. “I’m tired of ruining the lives of everyone that comes in contact with me. I have an addiction, and I need help to overcome it.”

Katniss went silent, bowing her head down to look at the ground while shifting her weight from one foot to the other. At first, Peeta thought she was finished, but she soon lifted her head back up and found Peeta’s eyes again before clearing her throat.

“I’ve been unfaithful in every relationship I’ve ever had,” Katniss began. “I dated around and would pick one guy to keep around, but it wasn’t because I wanted him there. I kept him around as a front -- so people wouldn’t start to question why I couldn’t keep a boyfriend. They couldn't know that it’s never the intimacy from a committed relationship that I crave. I crave the thrill of knowing I am going behind my boyfriend’s back and fucking someone else.”

Katniss kept her eyes locked on Peeta as she spoke. Even if he wanted to, Peeta knew he couldn’t look away from her.

“Three years ago I tried to help myself by getting married. I foolishly let myself believe that if I had a ring on my finger that I would somehow not be compelled to seek out other men. It lasted two weeks before I was out looking for someone else. In the two years that I was married, I got my thrills by juggling three, sometimes four men at once. It was even better if I could find a guy that could make me come in a broom closet ninety feet away from my husband.

“After we divorced, I felt relief instead of sadness. I was free! I got rid of all three men I was seeing at that time and started all over again. But then two weeks ago I was confronted by the wife of one of the men I was seeing. She brought her children with her and asked me if I realized that the affair had ruined her entire family and I guess at that moment I suddenly realized how destructive my behavior was and that what I did had an impact on everyone, not just me. I finally admitted to myself that I’m a sex addict.”

Without taking her eyes off of Peeta, Katniss sat back down in her chair, indicating that she was finished.

“Thank you for sharing your story with us, Katniss,” Thom said. “The more meetings you attend the more familiar the faces around you will become. These people are your support system. Your first line of contact when you need help. Never be afraid to ask for our help.”

The rest of the meeting proceeded as normal. Some members shared their successes for the week while others shared moments that they gave in to temptation. Peeta was a quiet observer that week, spending most of the session looking across the room at Katniss. Every time he looked, her eyes were already trained on him and his eyes would flit away quickly to look down at that week’s literature.

After the meeting, Peeta stood outside talking to Thom and a few other members as he waited for the cab to show up that would take him home. Even though he was usually the first to arrive he was often the last one to leave. Once everyone else had left for home, he pulled his iPhone from his pocket and started scrolling through his Facebook feed to pass the time.

“Hey.”

“Oh, hey,” Peeta said, turning to see Katniss. “How do you feel after your first meeting?”

“Not bad,” Katniss said, taking a deep, cleansing breath. “Thanks for unwittingly agreeing to be be my focal point while I talked. It helped ease my nerves a little.”

“No problem,” Peeta laughed, noticing they were the only ones left outside. “Are you waiting for a cab, too?”

“Oh, no,” Katniss shook her head. “I’m parked down around the corner.”

“That far away? Let me walk you to your car,” Peeta said. He knew he was overstepping his boundaries by suggesting it, but the area outside of St. Malachi Center was known for robberies and car theft. It was always better to walk in pairs.

“You don’t have to do that,” Katniss insisted.

“I’ll be standing around waiting for my cab for at least twenty more minutes,” Peeta explained. "There are only so many Facebook statuses I can read before it becomes boring."

“Well,” Katniss said. “I’ll allow it.”

As they began walking up the street side by side, Peeta was at a loss for words and found himself saying the first thing that came to him mind, “So, is your name really Katniss?” He blurted out. “I’m sorry!” he quickly added. “I shouldn’t have asked you that.”

“It’s fine,” Katniss assured him. “That’s my name. What about you? I heard Thom called you Peter or something. Is that your name or is it an alias?”

“Peeta -- and yes, that’s my real name.”

“Peeta,” Katniss repeated. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Peeta.”

“Likewise.”

They continued to walk up the dark street toward Katniss's car, conversation not coming easily.

“If I ask you a question, Peeta, will you be honest with me?” Katniss eventually said, breaking their silence.

“I think I can do that,” Peeta nodded.

“Do these meetings really help?” Katniss asked.

“The meetings are only part of it,” Peeta said. “If you really want this to work you have to fully commit yourself to recovering. Showing up for an hour long meeting once a week isn’t going to do it.”

“Did you make any mistakes when you first started?”

“Sure,” Peeta said. “Right after my first meeting I went to the bar, found a woman, and we had sex in my car, right in the parking lot. I did that for weeks before Thom became my sponsor. Why? Did something happen?"

"No." Katniss shook her head. "But I still feel like I always have. The urges haven't lessened, at all. In fact, it feels like they are worse right now. Is that normal?” Katniss asked. “I’m not fucking up?”

“It’s normal, yes,” Peeta said. “If that’s what you want to call it. The compulsion won’t go away with one meeting. Don't be so hard on yourself.”

“I just can’t shake that need,” Katniss said, stopping in front of a small sedan. “I don’t know how it is for you. But for me, I get so consumed with the idea of getting off that I feel like I can’t breathe until I come.”

“What about doing it yourself?” Peeta suggested. He knew it was a weak question. If anyone had suggested the same to him when he first joined the group, he would've laughed at them. Katniss had probably tried it hundreds of times before.

Once the question was out of his mouth, thoughts of Katniss touching herself filled Peeta's mind. He looked down at her fingers and thought of her using them to explore her body. His own body was beginning to respond to the vision in his head of Katniss with her fingers buried between her folds as she teased herself and rubbed her clit. What the hell was happening?

“It’s not the same,” Katniss said, shaking her head. “My touch can't even begin to compare to a warm pair of hands gripping my hips, or running up and down my back while I’m bent over.”

"Yeah.." Peeta flexed his hands. He could almost feel them palming Katniss’s hips. Almost see her arching her back up and swirling her hips as he thrust into her.

“I’ve tried using my fingers, toys, anything I could get my hands on, but none of them have ever made me come harder than knowing that another human was working to get me off. It makes every inch of his cock feel that much better.”

Peeta was no stranger to temptation. He was tempted several times a day, every single day. Sometimes, even hearing a certain word would set him off and had him fighting the urge to go into the bathroom to jerk off in the middle of a work shift just to find some relief, but nothing was quite as tempting as Katniss telling him exactly how she liked it. He thought he had gotten used to hearing people talk about these things. Become immune to the stories the women in the group told. In a group setting in the basement of St. Malachi Center, it barely fazed him. But that night in the dark in front of Katniss's car was a test he was not prepared for so soon, and he was failing fast.

“Do you feel like that right now?” Peeta asked hoarsely.

The strain on the front of Peeta’s pants was becoming unbearable already. He would never say it out loud, but he understood exactly what Katniss was saying. Jerking off relieved the urges, but it never compared to being sheathed inside the warm wetness of a woman.

He could just make out the contours of Katniss’s face in the moonlight. Her eyes darted from his eyes, to his nose, and down to his lips. Her shoulders heaved with each labored breath she took. “Yes,” she choked out.

They each took a step forward, closing the space between them. Peeta knew exactly where things were headed.

"We can't," Peeta groaned, leaning down and pressing his forehead against Katniss's.

"I know."

"But I want to."

"Me too," Katniss murmured.

Undeterred by what they were saying, Peeta's hands found Katniss's hips easily and he pushed them under the hem of her shirt. Her skin was warm and alive, something he hadn't felt in so long -- too long.

As Katniss began to walk backward, she covered Peeta's hands with hers, leading him forward until her body came in contact with the side of her car. Peeta tightened his grip on Katniss's hips and quickly hoisted her up to sit on the hood of the car. He stepped between Katniss's legs and brought his hands down to rub her thighs.

They didn't speak. They knew better. Talking made it real. Talking would confirm that with one week to go before Peeta could celebrate a milestone in his recovery, he was about to ruin it -- and he was past the point of caring.

Katniss tugged on the button of Peeta's jeans, popping it open and pulling until the zipper lowered and she could pull them down just enough to free his cock. She gripped him tightly and began to stroke. Languid, purposeful strokes that had Peeta clenching his jaw tightly as he moaned. He didn't trust his voice enough to open his mouth. There was no telling how loud he would be if he did.

The warmth of Katniss's hand stroking his cock sent waves of heat throughout his entire body. It felt so much better than when he did it himself, and when she covered the head with her hand and rubbed the soft skin of her palm across the sensitive tip, he almost lost it.

Katniss seemed to sense that Peeta was unraveling quickly. She let go of his cock and hopped down from the car, rifling through her purse earnestly and dropping it to the ground with a thud once she had secured the condom between her fingers. She looked at Peeta searchingly and Peeta looked back, both waiting for the other to speak up and put a stop everything that was happening, but neither one spoke up.

With nothing to stop them, Katniss took a cursory glance around the dark area and began to undo her pants. She worked quickly, pulling her pants and panties down in one motion before hoisting herself back up onto the hood of the car.

Peeta wasted no time settled back between her legs. He reached out to grab for the condom, but Katniss moved her hand away and shook her head before tearing the foil and taking it out. Her hand was gripping his cock again in an instant, stroking it a few times before placing the condom on the tip and rolling it down his shaft.

She kept a tight grip on his cock as he position himself at her entrance, slipping the head up and down between her folds. Peeta noticed Katniss give him one last look, one last chance to stop everything. Instead of stopping, Peeta pressed the head of his cock against Katniss's center and pushed in to the hilt.

Katniss wrapped her arms around Peeta's neck, burying her head in the crook in attempts to keep the sounds of her moans from echoing through the empty street. With one hand gripping Katniss's hip and the other between Katniss's legs, he found her clit easily. He ran the pad of his finger over the nerve gently, but quickly, matching the speed of his thrusts.

Peeta sucked on her neck, biting down when he reached her collarbone and bringing out a moan that was so loud, it echoed through the street despite how hard Katniss's face was buried in Peeta's shirt. And then her walls were trembling around Peeta's cock, drawing him in and pushing him over the edge with a labored grunt.

Neither one of them were very eager to speak after they had come back to Earth. They pulled their pants up hastily, refusing to make eye contact.

"I should.." Peeta stammered, looking at the ground. "My cab is probably waiting."

"Yeah..."

"I'll um.. see you next week?"

"Yeah..."

Without another word, Peeta turned and walked away. Pushing away the guilt he was already starting to feel, he hopped into the cab that pulled up in front of St. Malachi Center and told the driver to hurry.

XXXX

A week later, Peeta sat in his familiar chair in the basement of St. Malachi Center as a woman stood up and shared a story of her successful attempt at resisting temptation since their last meeting. Every time she spoke another word, the guilt that had been festering in Peeta's chest seemed to grow.

"Thank you for sharing that, Susan," Thom said with a smile. "And on the topic if resisting temptation, I'd like to take a moment to recognize one of our members. Let's put our hands together for Peeta, who is now six months abstinent!"

As Thom stood up, the room erupted in applause for Peeta. He should have called Thom as soon as he got home that night the week before. He meant to call him. He still wasn't entirely sure why he hadn't.

"I know it isn't much, but we always do a little something for members who hit big milestones," Thom explained. He handed a card to Peeta who immediately started shaking his head.

"No, Thom," Peeta said. "I can't accept that."

"Of course you can!" Thom insisted. "This is a big moment!"

Peeta grabbed the card from Thom's hand and attempted a smile. "Thanks, Thom. You really shouldn't have done this." If only Thom knew how much he shouldn't have done it.

As Peeta settled back into his chair he looked across the room to see Katniss staring at him intently, a look of guilt in her eyes that could match the guilt that Peeta felt coursing through his entire body.

XXXX

"Why didn't you tell Thom what happened?" Katniss asked, swirling her spoon in her mug of coffee. "He's your sponsor, isn't he?"

Katniss had caught up with Peeta after the meeting and invited him for a cup of coffee at the restaurant across the street from St. Malachi Center. He wanted to decline. He should've declined. But something held him back and he agreed, telling himself that they would be fine together in a restaurant full of people. One mistake didn't take away from the fact that he felt comfortable around Katniss. If they could prevent a repeat of what happened the week before, they could probably become friends.

"He is," Peeta confirmed. "I don't really know why I didn't tell him. I think I'm still trying to work what we did into my Three Circle Concept."

"Your what?"

"Three Circle Concept," Peeta repeated. "It's three levels of actions that are either safe, borderline, or bad for sexual sobriety and recovery."

"So you're trying to reason with yourself," Katniss said. "Trying to find a way to work having sex with me into a level that is acceptable?"

"I guess you could say that," Peeta nodded.

"Do you really believe that will work?"

"Well I haven't exactly relapsed," Peeta said. "I had sex with you once, a week ago. I haven't been out looking for prostitutes or willing partners at the bar or anything."

"Alright," Katniss said. "I don't know how this works. Sorry if I’m asking too many questions.”

“It’s fine,” Peeta said. “I’m more or less an open book by now.”

“So, prostitutes and different women every night? That was your compulsion?"

"Pretty much."

"Ever get arrested?"

"Twice," Peeta said. "Lost my job, too."

"You too?" Katniss asked. "I lost mine about a year ago."  

“I’m sorry,” Peeta said. "I'm hoping to open a bakery one day, so if you ever need a job..."

"That sounds nice," Katniss smiled. "How did Thom become your sponsor?"

"We got to talking one day and it just made sense," Peeta explained. "I instantly felt comfortable with him, and he was always so supportive. It just made sense."

"Got to talking..." Katniss murmurs. "Kind of like us."

"Our story has one very important chink in the armor," Peeta reminded her. "But yes. Kind of like us.

"Maybe you could be my sponsor then," Katniss suggested, smiling as though it was the greatest idea in the world.

"I.. really don't think that's a very good idea," Peeta said warningly.

"We could help each other," Katniss said. "We are the only ones that know what happened last week. Do you really want a third party to know that we fucked up right after my very first meeting?"

Peeta thought about what Katniss was saying. He really didn't want another person to know of their indiscretion, and in order for Katniss to work through everything, her sponsor would have to know.

"I guess since we are the only ones that know, we are truly the only ones that could prevent it," Peeta said. "Maybe we could try it out. See how it goes."

"Deal," Katniss said, reaching out to shake Peeta's hand.

XXXX

The women's bathroom in the restaurant was disgusting. Small and poorly lit, there was an odor in the air that Peeta couldn't quite decipher, but as he knelt on the floor with Katniss's legs over his shoulders as he thrust into her, none of it mattered. Nothing but the way Katniss was clenching her walls around Peeta's cock tightly and the impossibly tight grip she had on his shirt mattered. He couldn't remember how they ended up there. He couldn't even remember if they'd locked the door.

It wasn't until Katniss and Peeta had gone their separate ways that night that Peeta started to think about things. What did this mean for his recovery? One slip up was easier to sweep under the rug, but two? Two was much more difficult to ignore. The only thing Peeta was sure of at that moment was that it needed to stop.

But it didn't stop. No matter how many times they agreed that they would never have sex with each other again, by the end of the day they had found somewhere private to hide away. The riskier the place, the more they seemed to enjoy it. Bathrooms and broom closets were the easiest, but unless they left the door unlocked it wasn't as exciting as the incidents when Peeta would snake his hand underneath Katniss's skirt in the back of a cab and rub her clit until she couldn't take it anymore and came undone with the cab driver a few feet away.

Peeta loved the way Katniss’s thighs would trap his hand between her legs and her jaw would go slack while she tried desperately to keep the sounds of her moans undetectable. He’d smile at her mischievously, a thrill running up his spine when he thought about all of the ways she would get him back. Would she sneak her foot between his legs underneath the table the next time they were out for coffee? Rub him through the fabric until he came in his shorts and was forced to excuse himself to clean up? He could think about the possibilities all day.

Eventually, even the risk of getting caught stopped being enough for them. They needed each other all the time. It didn't matter if it was the middle of the night or the middle of a work day, they found a way to make it happen as often as possible. Every secret spot memorized to ensure they could slip off at a moment’s notice, not even their homes were off limits anymore. And all the while, they continued to attend meetings every Wednesday evening, and not once did Peeta tell Thom what was going on.

XXXX

"Someone slipped this under your door," Katniss said, sitting down on the bed next to Peeta. She cracked the seal on her cold water bottle and took a long pull. "Another noise complaint?"

"Yep," Peeta confirmed, pushing his sweat soaked hair off of his forehead. "This gentleman is happy we are having such great orgasms, but asks that we be a little quieter when we have them." He looked at Katniss and laughed, but all she offered him in return was a dull smile as she got back up from the bed and started putting her clothes back on.

She had been acting strangely for the last few weeks. Her laughs at his jokes were delayed and he caught her staring off into space more and more every single day. Something wasn’t right, and even though Peeta didn’t want to ask the question, he knew he had to.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked.

“Nothing,” Katniss replied a little too quickly. “I’m just tired.”

“Katniss..”

She sighed, running a hand through her tangled hair. "I'm leaving."

"I can see that."

"No.." Katniss said, stopping to look at Peeta again. "I mean.. I'm moving."

"Since when?"

Out of everything Peeta expected to hear, Katniss moving was not one of them. Nothing she said had indicated she was even interested in leaving the city.

"Since two weeks ago," Katniss started. "I'm going to stay with my Uncle Haymitch in Virginia for a little while. There’s a great SAA program out there. This isn't good for either one of us, Peeta. You know that."

Peeta did know  it. He said it to himself all the time, but in the end, it didn't change a damn thing.

"When do you leave?" Peeta asked.

"In the morning."

"Katniss!” Peeta shouted, sitting up in bed. “Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I wanted to," Katniss said. "I tried every single time I saw you and I just couldn't do it." Her voice hitched. "I'm sorry."

He was caught off guard when Katniss jumped back on the bed and grabbed the sides of his face, pressing her lips to his tenderly.

"I want us to get better," Katniss murmured against his lips.

"Me too."

“And you know we can’t do that together.”

“I know.”

"So we agree that this has to happen?" Katniss asked. She pulled away and looked at Peeta in the eyes. The expression on her face didn't match what she was saying at all, and Peeta was afraid that if he let himself say any more than what he had to, she would notice the same about him.

"This has to happen," Peeta agreed with a nod.

With a heavy sigh, Katniss slid off the bed and slipped into her shoes. "I guess I'll see you around, then."

"See you around," Peeta echoed, not moving. He knew this day would come eventually and it had to be quick. No tearful goodbyes, no hugs, and definitely not one last romp to say goodbye. Any of that would make it ten times harder to let her go.

With one last wave as she turned to close the door behind her, Katniss left the room.

XXXX

The day after Katniss left, Peeta told Thom everything.

To say Thom was disappointed that Peeta didn't tell him and carried on like everything was fine for so long was an understatement. Luckily for Peeta, Thom was a forgiving man and agreed to help Peeta work through everything that happened and continued to sponsor him. Once he made sure that Peeta realized that he would be starting from the bottom again, they were square and easily found their old camaraderie.

But starting at the bottom again was harder than Peeta thought it would be. It took him two months to go a full week without sex, and another three to remember how to fight against thoughts of stopping into a bar to see who he could find, scouring the web for a quick hook up, or even driving around to find a prostitute. Every time he had trouble, he found himself hoping that Katniss was having better luck.

Eventually, things began to get better and Peeta was on the path to recovery once more. It took another two years, but after many meetings, late night phone calls with Thom, and working through the steps, Peeta felt better than he had in years. He had even started dating. Many dates went horribly awry, but a few stuck around after his long confessions of being a recovering sex addict and he was able to enjoy the company of a woman without the overpowering compulsion taking over.

Things were finally on the right track.

As Peeta wiped down the counters in his brand new bakery, the sound of someone ringing the bell at the front register brought him out to check who was there. He was surprised to see who was standing in front of him.

"Katniss," Peeta muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Peeta," Katniss said, smiling at him tenderly. "Do you have a few minutes to talk?"

Peeta led her to an area at the side of the bakery full of tables. They sat across from each other, an uncomfortable silence filling the space instantly.

"I see you got your bakery," Katniss started. "It looks great. And so do you."

"Thank you," Peeta said. "You look great too. How have you been?"

"Good," Katniss said. "The best I've been in years, actually. That's why I'm here. I had to see you."

"Oh?"

"I never quite got around to apologizing to you," Katniss explained. "You were doing so well with your recovery and I screwed it up for you, and I'm sorry for that."

"It wasn't your fault, Katniss," Peeta assured her. "There was nothing that we did that I didn't want to do. I came to find out over the last few years that I may not have been as ready for recovery as I was telling myself then, and I should apologize to you for that. For letting you believe that I could actually be your sponsor, but really having no intentions to be one."

"We both made a lot of mistakes."

"We did."

"I also wanted you to know that I was never with anyone else during that time I was with you," Katniss confessed.

"I wasn't, either."

Katniss smiled. "I spent so much time early in my recovery focusing on all of the bad things, that I didn't really take the time to appreciate those small victories," she said. "I was faithful for the first time in my life and didn't even realize it, and for that I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"I don't know. Unwittingly helping me see that I could do it? You’re good at that." She smiled. "Every time I thought I couldn't do it, couldn't be faithful, I remembered that I had done it before and that it is possible."

"I'm glad you found peace with that," Peeta said.

"I've found peace with a lot of things over the last few years," Katniss said. "You were my final hurdle." As she stood up from her seat, she took Peeta's hand. "Thank you for letting me see you today. I won’t waste any more of your time. Good luck with your bakery."

"Thank you," Peeta murmured.

"Goodbye, Peeta."

"Goodbye, Katniss."

Peeta watched her walk out the door and up the street, but seeing her figure get smaller and smaller until it eventually disappeared altogether did nothing to stop all of the questions in his mind. Was she still living in Virginia or had she come back? What was she up to? Was she seeing anyone?

As he got up from his chair and resumed working, he had one final question cross his mind that would haunt him for months --  _Am I ever going to see her again?_

 

**Author's Note:**

> There WILL be more to this story. I haven't decided yet if it will be two or three parts. That will all depend on how long part two ends up getting, but there is more to come here. Thank you for reading!


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